"Good jazz is when the leader jumps on the piano, waves his arms, and yells. Fine jazz is when a tenorman lifts his foot in the air. Great jazz is when he heaves a piercing note for 32 bars and collapses on his hands and knees. A pure genius of jazz is manifested when he and the rest of the orchestra run around the room while the rhythm section grimaces and dances around their instruments."
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Composers from the United StatesJazz musiciansBassistsPianists from the United StatesAfrican Americans
Original Language: English
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Sources
Quoted in "What'd I Say?" : The Atlantic Story : 50 Years of Music (2001) by Ahmet M. Ertegun; also partially quoted in What Is This Thing Called Jazz?: African American Musicians As Artists, Critics, and Activists (2002) by Eric C. Porter, p. 118, and Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't: Jazz And the Making of the Sixties (2005) by Scott Saul, p. 154
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Mingus
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Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (22 April 1922 – 5 January 1979) was an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist also known for his activism against racial injustice.
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